The OHSU University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities has a 45-year history of celebrating and improving the lives of people with disabilities throughout Oregon. Learn more about UCEDD

UCEDD Appoints Co-Directors

The OHSU UCEDD is pleased to
announce the appointment of co-directors Rhonda Eppelsheimer, MSW/LCSW
and Melanie Fried-Oken, Ph.D., CCC/Sp.

Eppelsheimer
brings over 20 years of experience in education and leading
community-based projects and programs that support people with
intellectual and developmental disabilities. She has been at the OHSU
UCEDD since 2012 and currently serves as interim director. Fried-Oken is
a professor of Neurology, Pediatrics, Biomedical Engineering, and
Otolaryngology, and has been an active member of the OHSU UCEDD since
the early 1990's.

Eppelsheimer and Fried-Oken are looking forward
to serving together as co-directors of this longstanding and robust
federally-funded national center to improve the lives of people with
disabilities through education, research, and service.

Who we are

University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities
(UCEDD) are organizations, located at universities across the nation,
that focus on improving the lives of people with disabilities and their
families. Through education, service, research and outreach activities,
we work to be instrumental in changing policy, providing training, and
educating the public about major disability issues.

The OHSU UCEDD was one of the first UCEDDs created, and celebrates a
nearly 50-year history in Oregon. We are instrumental in developing and
leading disability research and outreach efforts to improve the lives of
people with disabilities and their families across the State of Oregon.